Saturday, December 31, 2011

Dude, Where's My Car?

In the driveway.  That's where it is.  It used to live happily in our garage, which I was so excited to have when we bought our house.  But now, it's warm home has been taken over by my DIY husband who has taken his car apart.  What now lives in my garage is what you see below.

Ever seen the inner workings of a transmission?  Neither had I until two days ago.  Just don't ask me what any of it does.  Hopefully all will go well and my car will be back home safe and sound where it belongs very soon.

Baby's First Christmas

Christmas this year at the Larkin house was even more special because we got to share it with the most amazing little boy ever.  Of course, he had no idea what was going on, but it was fun for us.


He got several nice toys from his Nanna and Poppa, and from his great-grandmother Violet.  Grandpa got him a UGA pillow pal and a couple of new UGA t-shirts.  We got him some small stuff like rattles and teethers, but we all tried really hard not to go overboard with gifts.  He's still too young for most toys, but he will be ready for them in another couple of months.  He did seem interested in the noises and bright colors, so maybe he will really enjoy playing with them soon.

This Christmas was also a little bittersweet.  Taylor's mom, Miriam, always loved Christmas.  This was our first one without her.  However, last Christmas she gave all three boys two of those recordable storybooks from Hallmark.  One came with instructions to open it on their first Christmas Eve as a family.  So on Christmas Eve, we opened our book as instructed, and Noah got to hear his grandmother's voice.  Of course there were tears, but it's such a sweet thing to have.  Now we can bring that out every year and tell Noah about her, and how she's up in Heaven watching over him all the time.

 

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Tis the Season

I finally got our house decorated for Christmas.  I never did much at the apartment because we didn't have much space.  I had a little more fun this year.  Our tree is much bigger since we have higher ceilings.  It took a long time to decorate because there was a lot of up and down on the step ladder to be able to reach the top.  We got Noah his first ornament.  The plan will be to get him a new one each year to add to the tree.


We didn't have a fireplace in the apartment, so I never had a mantle.  This year, I have two.  I had a lot of fun with them.  I decided to bring nature inside with some wood, pine cones, and acorns and added a little flair with some spray paint and ribbon.  The mantle in the living room has our stockings.  I bought Noah a cute fuzzy white one with bells.  I bought a green felt snowflake and stitched it onto the stocking just to add a little more character.

The one in the kitchen has some garland and a giant pine cone that Taylor's dad had lying around his house.  I also left my bear and elephant bookends in the mix.  They just seemed to work.

Now that we are all decorated, we need some music and cookies baking to fill the house with that sweet smell and the Christmas feeling will be complete.

3 Months Old

As of today, Noah is officially 3 months old.  He did not have to go to the doctor this month, but according to our scale he weighs around 14 pounds 10 ounces and is 26.5 inches long.  He is growing so fast!  We have to buy some of his clothes in six months just so they are long enough.  He is a very happy baby, and smiles at everyone.  


He has become a lot more vocal and likes to make noise.  He loves getting a bath now, and seems to really appreciate being naked.  He can sit in his Bumbo seat, but is still a little wobbly.  He tries to roll over, but gets stuck about half way.  He hasn't quite figured out what to do with his arms just yet. Last month he discovered his hands, but this month he seems to enjoy them a lot more.  He holds them in front of his face for long periods of time just staring at them.  And he's figured out how to get them in his mouth.  Sometimes he can manage to get just his thumb in there.  Either way, it seems to calm him down and has helped him get to sleep several times.  He also drools a lot more now, so I've started putting bibs on him in the last couple of days so he doesn't soak his clothes.  I had to actually go back into the office this month, so he's had to start going to daycare on those days.  He doesn't really seem to mind.  He's happy in the morning and just goes to whoever is there with no problems.  They all love him, but who wouldn't?  He's just adorable!

We are going to work on getting him on a more set schedule in the next week or so and see if that will help with sleeping at night.  We've had to start swaddling him at night again to help him stay asleep.  Without it, he kicks and flails around so much he wakes himself up.  Hopefully in the next week or two we'll have him sleeping through the night.  Wish us luck!  

We are convinced we have the most adorable baby ever.  I know people say that you don't really know what love is until you have a child.  I always thought that was a little cheesy, but as it turns out, it's completely true.  When he stares at me with those big blue eyes and gives me that little grin, my heart just melts.  We are so blessed to have been given this little guy to take care of for a while.  We pray and know that God will guide us every step of the way, and Noah will one day grow into an amazing young man.  For now, we'll just enjoy loving him as much as we can.